What style ottoman to go with our black leather couch?

I am thinking of getting an ottoman instead of a coffee table, for our family room for a few reasons. Firstly, I like facing forward while lounging and watching movies... So I need an ottoman to put my feet on :)

Secondly, I want to discourage eating and drinking in the family room, since the kitchen is right next to it. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on what style of ottoman would best suit this sofa. Something modern, with same legs as the sofa, or not necessarily?

Our Black Leather 3 seater

Would any of the ottoman styles below work with our space?

The TV unit that faces the lounge.

Our kitchen is right next to the family room.

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Rustic, vintage look, pedestal dining tables for our dining room?

These are the dining tables I am considering for our dining room. Do you think they are timeless, or not quite right for our home? 

I like the rustic look of them both but am not quite sure what dining chairs I would even pair them with. I mean the upholstered ones look fantastic and would be very comfortable especially since our dinner parties are mainly spent at the dining table ... but with we have too many young nieces and nephews whose hands always seem to be in the wrong places, and I don't think I could deal with the stains :(

Would love to hear your thoughts on the dining tables below :)

B

Laundry overheads are in at last!

2pac overhead cabinets are in at last! Still need to finalise the design for the floor to ceiling cabinet on the other side, but at least there has been SOME progress. Yay!

Oh, and still need to find the materials for the hanging rail underneath the overheads and a new pull down mixer tap...

Any styling tips would be greatly appreciated as always :)

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What size rug for our family room?

My Domino Book of Decorating tells me that I should leave 10 to 20cm of bare floor on all sides of the rug, and that all four legs of a sofa should be on or off the rug...

However, due to the location of our sliding doors, we have to push the sofa pretty much against the wall... And because the width of the wall facing the sofa isn't as long as I'd like it to be, we have to push the side sofa as close to the sliding door as possible. Gahhhh!

So, the question is, what would be the optimal size for a rug?

I am aware that most rug only come in standard sizes, but for now I am just dreaming and would like to see what the perfect size would be 
This is our family room, and there will eventually be a rug and ottoman, and maybe some other light and very portable seating... 

To me the top left is the most practical, as I would ideally like the rug to NOT be in the walking path of the main sliding door. But this option doesn't exactly balance the rest of the room out, does it?

I also like the look of the cowhide rug, but it would mean that it there would be a lot of traffic over it and I will probably get tempted to wash it myself, and will end up destroyed in no time :( ... Also, I am worried that cowhide rugs have been over done, and I am also worried about offending anyone... Hmmm but then again it's ok that I've just ordered a leather sofa? Hmmmm


The bottom two look a bit silly though...

Can't wait to read your suggestions.

Here is the floor plan for those who don't remember what our floor plan looks like:

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What style feet for our black leather sofa?

So, we've decided to go with a black leather sofa in the style pictured below. But what style of feet should we go with? I am thinking brushed aluminium? Or perhaps we should go with dark stained timber ones? We've got a timber floor, but might be putting a rug under/around the sofa, if that makes any difference.

What shape/height feet would you recommend? I am thinking of some low, but not too low ones, so I can still get a duster/vacuum underneath. Would love to hear your thoughts, as always.

Warwick Furniture Hardware

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Timeless RUG patterns... Is there such a thing?

I feel as if the patterns I like have been "in" for some time now, and wonder if they were/are a fad and will be completely "out" by the time I am ready to buy some rugs.

Which of these rug patterns, if any, do you think are timeless?

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Help me decorate/modernise these newly made-over armchairs and sofa!!!

Here is the finished product! My very first make-over project :)

The colour of the backrest and the armchair on the left, doesn't look quite right in the photo, must be the lighting on something... But let me assure you, it looks just like regular black leather in real life :)

But now, the question is... How to modernise this antique sofa, and at the same time soften the harshness of black leather?

The problem is, I still don't know where these pieces will end up, so would prefer for the cushions/throws to be versatile, and able to fit in anywhere... if that's even possible?

I generally like white, black and navy. I don't mind a bit of colour, but not too much!

I can't wait to read your suggestions on cushion size, colour, pattern etc :)

B

Mixing and matching skirting board and architrave styles

Unfortunately we can't have the plantation shutter frames that match our skirting boards and architraves around the doors :(

Do you think it will look strange if we mix the styles? Below is a pic of our skirting board and architrave around the doors (left), and the plantation shutter option (right).

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Help me style this buffet!!!

So, I finally purchased some candles today for my Freedom hurricane lamps. But, I am not sure if they are the right colour or size. They are yellowish. Eeeeek! Also, they were $35 (for both) after 30% off at Target. Is that a good price? Sounds a bit exy to me, but I was desperate so bought them anyway. Do you think the colour looks ok, or should I return them and find some white and or wider ones instead?

I am planning to have the frames painted black and prints replaced. I've rasied them 25cm above the buffet. Is this an ok height to hang them? Or should they go higher? Our ceilings are 2.7m.

I think I need a few more books ... and some fresh flowers for my currently empty fishbowl-type vase. But cheap pairs will have to do for now :P

So, what do you think of my styling so far? I would love to hear your suggestions on how to improve it.

B

Buffet and some progress

Firstly, we've had some teeny tiny door painting progress, and the cabinet maker has finally installed the pantry door handle. Here are the glass doors MrB painted and installed the door handles on.

Kitchen to foyer door, sitting room doors, and the kitchen to foyer door again with the new pantry door handle in view :) - our pantry is under the staircase.

And this is my lame attempt at styling the buffet *shy*. I desperately need your help with this one. Any generic or specific product recommendation you've got I'd love to hear from you. If I was go go ahead with either of the two sets of frames I would paint them black and obviously change the prints. What do you think?

And finally, I mentioned in my previous post that the wall above is one where the portable gas heater point is. Although we haven't yet purchased the heater, the plan is for it to be against this wall for the colder winter months. Also, MrB isn't overly keen on the buffet along this wall ... he things it looks strange being next to the dining table. What do you think? Below are some photos of how fits in with the large open living space we are working with.

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Three months late but here at last!

Remember my buffet and tv unit post? Well, they were 3 months late but are finally here. Mr B picked them up this week so we've finally got some furniture now :)

I must say I am really disappointed with Nick Scali. Firstly the items were meant to be in Adelaide by the end of February, and then when I emailed them asking what was going on they kept ignoring my emails until I asked for a refund. They then told me the items were here and ready to be picked up. When we rang the warehouse, we were told that they are not ready for pick up but are instead in Sydney and yet to be forwarded to Adelaide... Then there was drama over not being able to pay the remainder of the balance at the warehouse... When I asked if I could transfer the money via netbanking, they sent me their account details, but not the exact amount remaining... I gave up waiting for their response, so we went to the nearest store and paid the remainder prior to picking up from the warehouse. I am yet to receive a reply from them. LOL. Very sad really.

We like both items but I am unsure if we will be able to mount the tv unit to the wall, on top of the skirting boards... even though we've added bracing to the steel frame in place where it's meant to go. The unit is extremely heavy, and deeper than I thought it was... But we will see.

We've put the buffet along the wall where it can be seen from the kitchen, in between the dining room and "meals" area. MrB is not happy with it being there, and besides this is the wall where a portable gas heater is meant to go... I hope to take some photos of them both in place so you can hopefully provide me with some advice. I've pathetically styled the buffet, and am looking forward to your advice on that too :)

B

1.55m bedhead/headboard. Too high?

As always, I am moving at snail pace when it comes to actioning things around the house. I am still contemplating what height of the bedhead to go with. I really like the tall ones, but are they timeless or likely to date? Will it look too tall in our bedroom? I've drawn up the layout of our bedroom, with a 1.55m tall king size bed. Our walls are 2.7m so there will be 1.15m in between the top of the bedhead and the ceiling. Does this look ok?

Also, there is just over a meter on each side of the bed for the bedside tables.

Oh, and as much as I love the wingback style bedheads, I've decided to against it, as the sheets are apparently a pain to change and the style is more likely to date....

But back to the height of the bedhead. What do you think of 1.55m as per the drawing below? Too tall? Just right? Or could I possibly go even higher?

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Towel rails for our ensuite. Yay or nay?

I ordered the rest of the towel rings and toilet roll holders and MrB picked them all up yesterday. Thank you KL for helping me decide to get the same towel rings for the rest of the vanities! I also ordered an 800mm matching towel rail to see how it would look in our ensuite. I am not in love with the round fixtures, but at least it matches the toilet roll holder *shy* and the shower mixer. I originally wanted very square towel rails, but they are all heated, and it seemed like a waste of money buying them and then not using the heating feature...

So, what do you think of these rails. Yay or nay?

I don't mind them, but don't love them either. It's kind of a big decision though, as we need three for the ensuite, three for the upstairs bathroom, and one for the downstairs bathroom, so 7 in total. Which is why I am paranoid about making the wrong decision. Eeeeek.

This is the ensuite wall where we need the towel rails:

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Towel rings, rails or hooks? Which do you prefer?

We recently had a towel ring pictured below installed in our downstairs powder room. I think it looks great. I would like to get the rest of the bathrooms finished and am however wondering if the robe hook or even a small towel rail would be more practical? I am particularly worried about the ones which will be in bathrooms that kids will be using in the future. What do you think? From both an aesthetic and practicality point, which do you prefer?

The towel rail below is 600mm long so probably a bit too long to be above the 600mm deep vanity? Would love to hear your thoughts <3 p="">

Images all from Tradelink

 

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Help me choose a colour for our custom made upholstered bed.

Life's been extremely busy lately, but I'm back! :)

So, I am back onto the design of our timeless custom made upholstered bed, and am having trouble deciding whether to go with charcoal or light grey. I like both these colours but am wondering which one, if either, will work with our blackbutt floor. What do you think? 

Also, the plan is to eventually get a rug for under the bed, so I guess I should consider the rug colour before deciding on the bed colour? 

Again, I like shades of grey and charcoal, as well as black and white combos. 

What colour rug & bed combination would work well with our timber floor?

• The bed linen will be ALL white.
• Our walls are Whisper White, a very very light grey.
• There is a large North facing window in the bedroom so there is a decent amount of natural light.

Look forward to reading your suggestions, as always.

B

Meals area or something else?

Would you believe I still haven't bought the chairs to go with our meals table? Slack, I know :(

To make the situation even more complicated, I've lately been rethinking the whole meals area... I mean, we only use the dining table when we have someone over for dinner. Otherwise, we use the island for all our meals... Wiping the bread crumbs into the bin is just way too convenient. Even if we did get the chairs to go with the meals table, I just don't think we would use them :(

So, my dilemma now is... Do I get the chairs anyway, even if we are never going to use this cute little table? OR do we just get rid of the table and use the space for something else? Even though I have no idea what we could do with this space :S

All I do know is that our current dining table is too small, as it only seats six. We will eventually buy a 10 seater I think. The dining room allocated space is generous so even a larger table should fit ok without having to enter the "meals" area.

What do you think?

Facing North

Facing South

B

What size candle for this nickel hurricane lamp?

So the candle I've put in there for the photo is obviously too small. What do you think would be the optimal candle width and height for this hurricane lamp?

The glass part is 18cm in diameter and 31cm tall.

I recently bought a couple of these from Freedom and am planning on placing them on the white buffet that we ordered in early January. It was meant to arrive late last month ... fingers crossed it arrives soon :)

B

Obsessed with white :|

The other day I realised that most of the furniture we bought over the past year has been white. I guess I might have a slight problem *shy*

Take a look...

Freedom Bedside Tables

Freedom Computer Desk

IKEA Dressing Table

A couple of IKEA Book Cases where we keep our everyday clothes, until the walk in robe is fitted out...

Freedom Stools

Nick Scali Buffet (yet to arrive)

Nick Scali TV Unit (yet to arrive)

Bunnings lamps (ok not exactly a furniture item ...)

And we painted our meals table White!

Should we quit it with the white yet? *shy*

B

Photo frames in the foyer. What do you think?

I recently acquired 4 picture frames. A couple of 78cm x 62cm and a couple of 54cm x 54cm ones. I cut out a template of the smaller one and used black electrical tape to create a border. I am thinking of maybe hanging them in the foyer, on either side of the front doors. What do you think? There is a light switch on the left of the doors, so maybe it will throw out the symmetry out of whack a bit too much?

Would love to hear your thoughts. As always.

Here is a photo for K :)

Please ignore the prints, and the colour of the frames.

Nat, this is the layout of our foyer:

 

Or, should we hang them on the little wall between the powder room and garage door, one on top of the other?

Or the little wall in the formal lounge near the window (currently family room) - left pic in the bottom row.

The wall in between the powder room and garage. Left pic in the bottom row is of  our future formal lounge.

PS. In case you were wondering why I've been quiet of late, it's because 3 weeks ago I started a new job as an IT contractor. After almost 8 years in a permanent position, contracting is a big change. It is very demanding, but extremely rewarding. Will see how long I can keep it up :)

B

Alfresco fit out. What outdoor setting would you recommend?

We recently realised that our alfresco is a very small and awkward space. Mainly due to the middle opening sliding doors ... The alfresco faces south and is 3.3m x 5.5m (excluding the 1m concrete path around it). What sort of seating could we possibly fit in this space, so we can still comfortable use the sliding doors?

We've got four down lights, and a fan with a light in the middle. There will also be two outdoor speakers in the ceiling as well.

There is a TV antenna/provision in the corner above the ugly folding chairs. Not that we are in a hurry to buy an outdoor tv *rolls eyes* but the provision is there just in case we change our minds in the future.

We were thinking of putting a deck in the alfresco, but seeing that it's such a small space, would it make it look weird? Also, would we deck the path around the alfresco slab, or not?

The concrete is a funny colour because I hosed it down before taking the photos :)
The ceiling and eaves should be getting painted soon... Sigh

Don't you love our masking paper curtains?

B